After controversial tweets about the Corona strategy for Thuringian schools, the lawyer Julia Heesen loses her post as State Secretary for Education.

He made the decision to ask Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) to dismiss Heesen, said Thuringia's Education Minister Helmut Holter (left) in Erfurt on Wednesday.

The background to this are posts on Twitter that were published by the Ministry of Education's account over the weekend and were then widely and sharply criticized.

The ministry had posted what it sees as ten most important reasons why “we are keeping the schools open with high priority and not postponing the holidays”.

The arguments had triggered a kind of “shit storm”, especially on Twitter.

Many users reacted indignantly or with incomprehension, and in some cases the ministry was accused of spreading untruths.

Holter explained that it was important to him “that public communication on the part of my ministry in terms of message and style is conducted with the necessary clarity of content and also the necessary restraint”. This was not the case with the communication at the weekend to the desired extent. "The tweets in question were sent by State Secretary Dr. Heesen is responsible, ”says Holter.

The tweets were particularly criticized for the fact that the ministry relativized the possible long-term effects of Covid 19 disease on students.

"It is not clear whether children develop Long-Covid," wrote the ministry on Twitter.

The ministry later apologized for this tweet and deleted it "because it contained incorrect statements about Long-Covid," as stated in a later tweet by the ministry.

In addition, a tweet could be interpreted in such a way that children would experience violence at home, which is why they - so the argumentation - are safer in school.

According to dpa information, Heesen is said to have written and sent the controversial tweets on the relativization of Long-Covid in children and on violence against children in families.

Most recently, the SPD education politician Thomas Hartung, who is himself a doctor, sharply criticized the tweets.

In his opinion, they are proof that the Ministry of Education is not taking current scientific findings on Covid-19 seriously.

Heesen's resignation is not enough of the opposition

However, Heesen's expulsion is not enough for the opposition in the Thuringian state parliament.

"The best thing to do is to completely clean up the ministry," tweeted the CDU parliamentary group leader Mario Voigt.

The ministry had completely failed to fight the pandemic.

Students, parents and teachers would have to pay for this.

The CDU education politician Christian Tischner said that Heesen was just a pawn sacrifice.

"The prime minister and his minister are responsible for the Thuringian school chaos."

Heesen is to be put into temporary retirement.

In order to take this step formally, the approval of the state government is necessary.

For months there has been criticism, not only from the ranks of the opposition, but also from the ranks of the Red-Red-Green, of how the Thuringian Ministry of Education is navigating schools through the corona pandemic.

There had been a heated, week-long debate about the rather cautious testing strategy in schools.

In this regard, even the left parliamentary group had partly represented a different point of view than the ministry led by the left politician.

From cabinet circles it was said on Wednesday that during the cabinet meeting on Tuesday there had been sharp criticism of Heesen from the municipalities.

Their representatives had complained above all about the tone that Heesen had last used when dealing with them.

According to the information, both Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) and Holter then apologized for Heesen and announced that they would talk to her.